Of Mountains and Rivers 23
Here is another kofi chapter!
Nanshan’s Brows were Tightly Furrowed. He Took the Truncheon Dashan Handed Him Again. “Call Some People to Come With Me. Hurry.”
Flower Bud raised the Patriarch’s truncheon with both hands, hectically catching up to Nanshan as her tapered throat shouted and quarrelled, “Patriarch! Patriarch!”
Xiao Fang yelled at her. “Who told you to come out? Go back!”
Since coming out from her mother’s womb, there was never a time Flower Bud was afraid of challenging her dad. The wind brought from her jog carried a truculent fighting spirit.
“I’m twelve now!” She announced loudly. “I’m not like those little brats – I can guard the mountain!”
Nanshan took the truncheon; he didn’t act fierce and speak any harsh words, just frowned at her lightly. “Go back.”
Speaking of this, towards the Liyi Clan’s children, Nanshan’s temperament was very patient and warm – at least, he was more patient than Chu Huan and very rarely yelled at them. Compared to her father’s ever-ready slap, the Patriarch’s eyes only appeared slightly displeased, yet it always managed to efficiently intimidate the little brats.
When Flower Bud met Nanshan’s gaze, her originally three chi high arrogance deflated into a bean-sized Mars before finally extinguishing. She carefully watched his expression, not daring to act wantonly; she stayed in place for a while, her toes rubbing against her instep, before walking back home dejectedly.
At this moment, the fog that’d originally hovered over the Liyi Clan’s settlement was expelled by something – it must’ve been through artificial means. The expelled mist wavered and condensed outside the clan’s village, forming a hemispherical-domed quadrilateral. At first glance, it seemed like the village gained an additional muddled and hazy city wall.
All children under the age of fourteen in the clan were put together in the Patriarch’s yard, with a group of adults led by Spring guarding the perimeter; everyone was ready to fight.
Spring was methodical; when the command was ordered, within a moment’s time the clans-people was roaring, the dogs barking, the birds shriek shrill, the sounds of galloping horse hooves not far, and the livestock each hastened back to their respective pens, tremblingly huddled together, within the Liyi Clan.
“How come it’s this quick? How come the door opened just when it became foggy? Did something happen to the Gatekeepers? How come there wasn’t a single warning from over there?” Xiao Fang quickly followed behind Nanshan, questions firing one after the other as if there was a machine gun in his mouth; suddenly, his footsteps paused as if he remembered something, and he shouted towards Nanshan’s back, “Oh no! Patriarch, where’s My King?”
Nanshan strode towards the fog wall, his footsteps never stopping. “Don’t worry, I’ve already sent him away.”
Xiao Fang didn’t understand in time. “A-away? To where? I thought he… He would…”
“Stay and accept the ‘ritual’?” Nanshan’s footsteps stopped at the boundary of the fog wall. When he turned his head, Dashan, who was silently following him, immediately handed him a torch. The pulsing flame reflected against Nanshan’s handsome and unperturbed side profile; he paused before continuing, “Chu Huan explicitly told me he wouldn’t stay, so I didn’t mention the ‘ritual’ to him.”
Xiao Fang widened his extra-large eyes into the size of balls. “You… Didn’t even mention it?”
Nanshan narrowed his eyes at the dense fog, his expression appearing dignified. Right now, the grief of parting from sending Chu Huan away in the early morning had long disappeared from his face; having mentioned this, he even felt a bit glad. “Fortunately he left cooperatively – if he was a bit slower, I’m afraid that-”
“But how could you not mention it?! Ai! Patriarch, the advantage of the ‘ritual’ is that it’s completely unimaginable to the people over there. Why didn’t you tell him? If he knew, he might’ve wanted to stay here forever – haven’t you always wanted-”
Nanshan lightly glanced at him; Xiao Fang automatically silenced himself as if well-trained. It seemed he wasn’t any better than his twelve-year-old daughter.
A small handful of Nanshan’s long, temple hair fell from his headband and hung above his broad, sturdy shoulders. He lightly stroked the truncheon’s head Chu Huan had fixed as if it was a treasure, then closed his eyes slightly before breaking it off again.
He held the big, dark green gemstone in his hand; after fiddling with it for a while he carefully stored it away. Then, Nanshan took the torch Dashan handed him and lit the truncheon.
Who knew what materials were used to make the Patriarch’s truncheon, but a circle of frosty flames began burning at the top, its glow like the Aurora over ice, carrying a heavy, occult chilliness.
The glow became increasingly stronger; like threads, it quickly penetrated the dense fog. Among the curling wisps of the mist, the cold firelight was like a beacon tearing through the night, shining alone to make the white fog brighter.
This was probably the only thing in the Liyi Clan that could penetrate the fog and illuminate it.
“Tell him and tempt him into staying for him to turn out like my Ah-ba?” Nanshan whispered almost to himself under the still firelight.
Xiao Fang had no way of refuting.
Nanshan lowered his gaze as if wanting to tear away this page. “Never mention this matter in the future.”
During their talk, the clan’s horses finally ran through the fog towards them. Xiao Fang’s eyes swept across them, then suddenly asked with slight confusion, “How strange. Patriarch, where’s your white king-horse?”
Nanshan: “I let Chu Huan ride it away.”
Xiao Fang was extremely alarmed. “What? Then… Then how is it supposed to come back at this time? We’re about to seal the mountain and the passage to that side of the river has been turned away – what happens if it can’t find its way back?”
“If it can’t come back then it can’t come back.” Nanshan handed the truncheon, flickering with firelight, to Dashan. “If it can’t come back, the horses will choose a new king themselves. What are you worried about?”
As if offering the torch, Dashan raised the truncheon with both hands. There were already a dozen women waiting aside, each of them holding a human bone – compared to ordinary human bones, these bones seemed slightly thicker, their osseins exceptionally sturdy, the centre of the bone marrows almost solid, and their surfaces glittering with a layer of phosphorescence.
Dashan moved the Patriarch’s truncheon close to the bones in the women’s hands, lighting up one end each, allowing them to emit the same glow that could penetrate the thick fog; only, they weren’t like fire, more like a figment of one’s imagination.
The women inserted the bones by the boundary of the fog wall and solemnly used an ancient rite to pay tribute to the bones.
This way, the trees, mountain, and river within the fog once again had their own faintly discernible shadows.
From a distance sounded a horrifying bellow.
Nanshan: “Announce to everyone that from now on, groups of ten will be formed for patrol-”
“Patriarch!” He hadn’t finished speaking yet before he was suddenly interrupted by a woman’s hoarse cry from behind. The woman staggered before him and gasped out, “Patriarch, Patriarch…”
Nanshan reached out and grabbed her arms; at any rate, he didn’t let the woman’s soft legs kneel in front of him.
The woman cried as she said, “Ankarayiye is gone!”
The top-grade sounding name ‘Ankarayiye’ was Little Bald-Head’s name in the Liyi Clan’s language. The Chinese translation was much longer than the actual name, so Chu Huan didn’t remember either; he could only provide himself with the nickname ‘Little Bald-Head’ for another person’s child.
The hand gripping onto the woman’s arms tightened. “When did this happen?”
“The morning, early in the morning…” The woman was almost falling apart. At this moment, the Patriarch was like her only pillar; she could only rely on the strength of Nanshan’s hands to barely support herself and force back the tears from dripping out her watery eyes. She had difficulties bearing children; even after ten years of marriage, she only had Little Bald-Head that one child – how could she not feel anxious?
“One of the pigs raised at home is missing, but… But the pigpen was messed with, so he must’ve released one and rode it before closing the pigpen again, he… He usually liked playing with those stupid things.” The woman dug her nails into her flesh, the air in her chest surging fiercely. “Patriarch, where do you think he ran off to? Could he be…”
Nanshan’s brows were tightly furrowed. He took the truncheon Dashan handed him again. “Call some people to come with me. Hurry.”
•·················•·················•
In the river, Chu Huan swallowed down a mouthful of bloody foam.
The monster had already fallen, facing upwards; the fishy stench of blood water had splashed over the white horse’s entire body. Chu Huan raised his hands and pressed his ears, easing the ringing in his ears whilst observing the monster in the water up-close – the shallow surface of the water could only just cover the monster’s corpse, so it definitely wasn’t an animal that lived here.
Chu Huan had never seen this monster before in his life, nor had he ever heard of it, and it’s unlikely it came from this side of the river.
Then it should be… From the Liyi Clan’s side.
Did they raise it? Or did they encounter something?
If it entered the waters from the Liyi Clan’s side, did it mean they were accidentally not far from the other side?
Chu Huan observed that this monster rushed towards them against the current’s flow, which meant the wisest decision for them now was to also continue upstream against the current.
The scent of blood in the water may attract other things – they had to leave as soon as possible.
The white horse seemed to feel the same way – with one command from Chu Huan, its hooves immediately threw away all restraint and quickly passed through the water.
At this moment, Chu Huan heard a low sob; he lowered his head and saw Little Bald-Head leaning over his shoulders, crying softly. He seemed to just understand that his friend could no longer continue walking with him anymore.
After Little Bald-Head’s first encounter with death, although he felt sudden confusion, he also vaguely understood this wasn’t the time to act mischievous and disobedient; he tightly clutched onto Chu Huan’s shirt. No one in the clan would wear such supple and superfluous shirts that seemed capable of tearing with just one pull, but now it was the only support he could rely on.
“We don’t even know how anxious your parents are feeling right now,” Chu Huan suddenly said.
He clearly didn’t know how to coax young children, so he could only disregard whether the other could understand and accept this or not, and speak on equal terms with him as if this three or four-year-old brat was an adult. “You only took into consideration your own willfulness. Have you ever thought about this?”
This time, Little Bald-Head didn’t laugh at his weird pronunciation. He heard the reproach in his words and felt unparalleled grievance; he raised his head and looked at Chu Huan with tearful eyes.
Chu Huan suddenly pulled back the horse’s rein. The white horse was caught unprepared; its front hooves raised high in the air as it let out a prolonged neigh. The sound of water suddenly amplified and three monsters bigger than the one before charged straight towards them.
Chu Huan composedly stabilized the horse and asked Little Bald-Head, “Are you seeing this? I don’t know if they’re mutant crocodiles; maybe they travelled here or maybe they were originally here. How did you determine you could cross the river alone?”
Hearing this, Little Bald-Head sobbed.
Chu Huan: “Do not cry.”
This time, he didn’t pretend to be firm nor did he use soft words to coax the other; he just used a flat tone to spit out three words. Little Bald-Head immediately held his tears back, not daring to make a noise.
Chu Huan laid on the horse’s back and lowered his centre of gravity, constantly adjusting his angle whilst also speaking into Little Bald-Head’s ears. “Since it’s something you don’t have the ability to accomplish, why did you do it?”
Little Bald-Head was nestled into his arms. Softly, he said, “My King-”
Chu Huan: “Don’t throw a tantrum, I’m asking you a question – what else can you do other than throwing a tantrum?”
A monster abruptly leapt from the waters and opened its ferocious mouth to bite down towards Chu Huan.
Chu Huan held the child and moved his entire body to stand on the horse. The bayonet in his hand almost seemed to transform into an embroidery needle someone was attempting to get a thread through; like dragons and snakes were following his writing brush, he missed, stabbed, and dashed forward towards one of the monsters – then he suddenly lowered his body and retracted back onto the horse. The white horse decisively leapt away. Another monster’s colossal teeth brushed past them and collided with this monster.
Chu Huan wanted to cover his ears, but he had to take care of the wild child in his arms and had no time; he had no choice but to bear with the sonic duet attack.
He took a deep breath and skillfully diverted his attention; as he eased the sharp pain in his chest, he didn’t forget to harshly say to Little Bald-Head, “Your actions are not heroic, they cause trouble, do you understand?”
At this moment, the white horse was already unavoidably running heads-on towards the third monster. The monster threw itself towards them with a bite. Chu Huan put his stakes in one throw of the bayonet.
The monster and cold military weapon fought at close quarters.
With a ‘pu-chi’, the bayonet stabbed a fist-sized hole through the monster’s open palate into a gap between its teeth; its head was also instantly stabbed through. Using this as leverage, Chu Huan flipped 360 degrees in the air before falling back directly onto the swiftly running white horse.
Little Bald-Head was stupefied.
